Mexico Presses eBay to Pull Listings for 195 Pre-Colombian Objects, Citing “Illicit Extraction”
Mexico’s culture ministry has asked eBay to remove listings for 195 pre-Colombian artifacts, arguing that the objects were taken from the country through “illicit extraction” and should be returned to Mexico.
The request was made public after Mexico’s secretary of culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, posted on X that an Orlando, Florida–based seller operating under the name Coins Artifacts was offering items that Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) considers part of the nation’s cultural heritage. In a letter sent to eBay, Curiel de Icaza called for the platform to “immediately suspend the sale and return the items to the Mexican government,” adding that the export of such objects has been illegal since 1827.
Mexico’s intervention has also moved beyond public pressure. According to reporting by The Art Newspaper, INAH’s legal department filed a complaint with Mexico’s Attorney General and alerted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The institute also notified Interpol and US authorities, including Homeland Security Investigations, as part of an effort to stop the sales.
A key detail remains opaque: because the complaint is subject to confidentiality rules, it is not publicly known which specific 195 objects are being challenged. The uncertainty is compounded by the scale of the seller’s online inventory, with thousands of items reportedly listed under the Coins Artifacts account.
When contacted by The Art Newspaper, the administrator of Coins Artifacts identified himself only as Tom and initially said he was unaware of the Mexican government’s statement. He later maintained that the listings were lawful and described a chain of ownership that, he said, began with his purchase from the New York gallery Arte Primitivo. Before that, he told the publication, the objects had been held in a private collection in Nevada and were once owned by David Harner of Arkansas in the 1950s and 1960s.
Tom also disputed Mexico’s claim to the material, saying the government was using social media to pressure owners into returning objects they are not legally required to repatriate.
For its part, eBay has indicated it is reviewing the matter. A spokesperson told The Art Newspaper that the company is investigating the listings and would take action if the items cannot be legally sold.
The dispute fits a familiar pattern in Mexico’s cultural-heritage strategy. In recent years, the culture ministry has repeatedly used social media to publicly challenge sellers and auction houses offering pre-Colombian material, pairing reputational pressure with legal and diplomatic channels. The current case underscores how online marketplaces have become a central battleground in the wider effort to curb the trade in antiquities and to secure returns of objects claimed as national patrimony.
